SPECTRALWhat happened here
The house was built in 1796 by David Bradford, a leader of the Whiskey Rebellion who had fled to Spanish Louisiana. It later passed to his son-in-law Clark Woodruff and then to other planters. Like every plantation in the region, the Myrtles' wealth came from the forced labour of enslaved people, who lived and died on the property.
Records show that Woodruff's wife Sara and two of their children died of yellow fever in the 1820s. In 1871 a later owner, William Winter, was shot on the porch and died on the steps of the house.
The legends
The legend tells of Chloe, an enslaved woman who was punished by having an ear cut off and took revenge by poisoning a birthday cake with oleander, killing Woodruff's wife and two daughters. She was then hanged, the story goes, and now appears in a green head wrap. A mirror in the house is said to hold the spirits of the dead.
Guests describe a woman in a head wrap, children playing on the veranda, and smudges and handprints that return to the mirror after it is cleaned.
Fact or legend?
No record of Chloe has been found, and the deaths blamed on her were caused by yellow fever. Historians have criticised the legend for turning the real suffering of enslaved people into the tale of a vengeful servant. The documented history of the house, including the lives of the people enslaved there, is the story that deserves telling.
Visiting
The Myrtles operates as a bed and breakfast with daytime history tours and evening mystery tours. St. Francisville is about 45 minutes north of Baton Rouge.
